searchforspirit:

I am helping my friend Leah make salves from herbs she grows in her garden. She is using plantain, comfrey and calendula. She will be using several combinations of these herbs to make salves for different purposes.

She wants a general purpose salve to use on her skin after a long day gardening in the sun. As all of us gardeners do, she frequently has small scratches and scrapes on various parts of her body when she comes in. So she will need some minor wound care (vulnerary). She gets contact dermatitis on her wrists and fingers so she will need an anti-inflammatory and demulcent. She also has dry itchy skin around her ankles so she wants a moisturizer (emollient).

she also wants a salve she can use for wound care for herself and her pug, potbellied pig, cat and her chickens.

Plantain - actions - Vulnerary„ demulcent, anti-inflammatory, astringent.

Comfrey - actions - Vulnerary„ demulcent, anti-inflammatory, astringent (note: comfrey promotes rapid cellular regrowth so it is great for wound healing, sprains, bruises and broken bones. It should not be used, however, on puncture wounds or narrow deep cuts as it will cause the surface skin to regenerate which could result in the wound not draining properly, causing an absess.

Calendula - actions - Anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, astringent, vulnerary, anti-fungal.

Yarrow - actions - Astringent, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-bacterial

Her general purpose salve will be composed of 2 parts each plantain and calendula and 1 part comfrey.

Her wound care salve will be composed of 2 parts comfrey and 1 part each plantain, calendula and yarrow.